Two movies open this week in our local art house theaters that manage to salvage powerful human dramas from some of the most potentially depressing materials: child abuse and the displacement of the poor during natural disasters.   “Polisse” When we read or hear stories about child abuse, there’s often a focus on the offenders (the outrage, the trial, the 24 hour cable news coverage) followed by guilty reminders of the victims (the pain and suffering, the psychological damage, the years of recovery). The recent Sandusky trial is a good example of this – Sandusky, Sandusky, Sandusky, Victim #x, Sandusky, Sandusky, Victim #y, Sandusky, Paterno, Sandusky, and how much will Penn State have t

Sacramento – At a press conference today at Sacramento City College, Assemblymember Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) announced he will introduce a bill to require all organizations that employ athletic coaches, administrators and directors to provide training on the identification of child abuse and neglect, inappropriate and illegal contact with a minor, and mandated reporting requirements. “As a former high school and collegiate athlete myself, I know firsthand the position of trust that coaches have with their athletes,” said Assemblymember Dickinson. “This close relationship and bond should never be exploited to hurt a child and we need to do all we can to prevent it. Closing the coachi

 After years of holding the dubious distinction of tearing apart families at one of the highest rates in California, Sacramento County finally has brought its rate of child removal in line with the state average, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.  But the Bee left out some good news: The two key measures of safety used by the federal government show that, as entries into foster care declined, child safety improved. Apparently even with budget cuts, setting clear standards and doing a better job of weeding out false reports and trivial cases has given workers more time to focus on finding children in real danger. One would think the fact that Sacramento County used to be the child remo

Some secrets should be told, especially those surrounding child abuse. Reaching past the headlines in the newspaper, The Lisa Project has visitors experience the life of an abused child. The Lisa Project is an interactive experience that educates visitors about the continued plight of child abuse, and the exhibit is now open to the public for the month of April, free of charge, at St. Rose of Lima Park. Visitors walk into the exhibit, where they are handed iPods and introduced to Lisa (via the iPod), who narrates the tour and tells stories of other children, much like herself, who have suffered from abuse. Breaking her narration, voices of other children and their abusers are heard makin

Children are caught in the cross fire of domestic abuse every day in the Sacramento region, and throughout California. According to Sacramento-based WEAVE Inc., nearly one in every three women will experience abuse at some time in their lives – abuse that is defined as between intimate partners, where one partner is using physical or emotional abuse to gain power or control. The cycle of violence, which includes a tension phase, explosion, and a honeymoon period often repeat until, ultimately, someone is damaged beyond repair. Enter Juliani Cardenas. Juliani Cardenas is a name that every Californian has come to recognize. An unfortunate four-year old who unwittingly graces the spotlight

When children are brought into this world, the universal hope for them is a loving, supportive, healthy life, with loving parents, a good education, and every need met with the utmost satisfaction. The sad truth is that even in our own Sacramento community, children are placed into the foster care system. Child abuse, neglect, drug addiction, and poverty are only a few of the nightmares faced by many young members of our city. These kids never asked to be in these situations nor do they have much of a say as to what happens to them including where they live or where they go to school. This is where Sacramento Child Advocates comes in! They have Given a voice and protected the rights of ove

THE PEOPLE AT THE CHILDREN’S RECEIVING HOME OF SACRAMENTO MEAN WELL. BUT THEIR PROGRAM HURTS CHILDREN, WASTES MONEY, IMPEDES REAL REFORM, AND HASN’T HAD AN OBJECTIVE EVALUATION IN 66 YEARS. They are among the most sacred cows in all of child welfare, and no wonder. Donors love them. They can get a plaque on the wall for giving money or furniture or, if they're really rich, donating a whole building. The volunteers love them. They can turn real flesh-and-blood human beings into human teddy bears who exist for the volunteers' gratification and convenience, even as they convince themselves they're helping children. When they get bored with their human teddy bears, they simply hand them back

Bias against the birth mother of Amariana Crenshaw led Sacramento County Child Protective Services workers to “discount” her concerns that Amariana was being abused in her foster home, according to an internal review released by CPS Thursday. Amariana was taken from her parents, only to die under mysterious circumstances in a foster home with a long history of serious problems. That is the lead that should have begun the Sacramento Bee’s story today about the release of CPS’ internal investigation into Amariana’s death. But that would contradict the birth parent-bashing “master narrative” that has dominated child welfare coverage in the Bee (as is discussed in this previous post). So no

In response to my column last week, about how Sacramento County is the child removal capital of California, an aunt who is providing foster care for a nephew raised several objections. Among other things, she argued that it was unfair of me to lump in relatives providing foster care, known as “kinship care,” with strangers in calculating Sacramento’s rate of removal. In one sense she is right; it’s unfair - unfair to other counties, because it makes Sacramento look too good. When you look only at the proportion of children placed with total strangers, Sacramento actually fares even worse. My previous column documented the extensive research on the inherent trauma of foster care - trauma

Sacramento is now California’s capital in more ways than one.Data released today by the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform show that Sacramento County is the child removal capital of California. Among the state’s larger counties, Sacramento County takes away proportionately more children than any other, when the number of children taken away is compared to the number of impoverished children in each county. Sacramento takes children at a rate nearly double the average for these counties. NCCPR released its latest California Rate of Removal Index Monday. It’s available on our website here. The Index shows that in recent years, much of California has made remarkable progress i

There have been many articles in the Sacramento Bee recently about the fact that CPS is losing all of their funding, the State of CA is not giving them money, and terrifying people by telling them children will be in more danger because there won't be enough people to ensure child safety. However, after researching statistics, it became clear to me that Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) are crying wolf just so they have another excuse for their incompetency.  CPS is in desperate need of a "way out". They are blaming their failures on a lack of money because of recent funding cuts instead of taking responsibility and being a

For the past 18 years, Sacramento Child Advocates (SCA) has been providing representation for every child entering our dependency court system in Sacramento County.  Currently, we represent 4700 children within the dependency system and we never turn down any child brought before the court.  SCA was established in Sacramento to be their “voice”, their personal advocate with a very determined mission.  SCA does this through a unique model of using both attorneys and social workers.  Foster youth who are represented in this manner truly have a partner in designing their future, someone they can trust, someone that is always looking out for their best interests.  When a child is removed from